Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Pierre Gauthier met with the media Tuesday to say very little, but the one revelation he did provide was that the team will not be extending a contract offer to Dominic Moore and that, for all intents and purposes, his team is set going into next season.

Of course, Carey Price and Maxim Lapierre still need to be signed, but once that is done Gauthier wants to make sure there will be spots remaining for some young (read: cheap) players to fill out the bottom six forwards.

The Canadiens, not including the potential bonus overage for Lars Eller's contract, have just about $5.2 million in salary cap space with Price and Lapierre still to sign, and with the contracts of one or two Hamilton players to add.

That really shouldn't be too big of a squeeze for Gauthier to manage, but what might this team look like, and are you comfortable with it? Because it appears Gauthier is.

Here's how I see a healthy Habs team lining up in the fall (or early winter, if you will, when Andrei Markov is ready to play).

I don't know about you, but considering the injury-riddled season the Canadiens just went through, and the maddeningly inconsistent season both Kostitsyn and Pouliot had, would you not rather have Moore on board to serve as some measure of insurance and depth? To at least know that the third line is set? That it can build on what happened in the playoffs? I would.

Gauthier said the realities of the cap and youngsters pushing for lineup spots made signing Moore and the team's other UFA's impossible. Sorry, don't buy it. If Gauthier wanted to have Moore back he could have, unless his salary demands are completely outrageous.

But how can they be? Moore is not an idiot. He saw himself skating at his alma mater Harvard when the season began last year. He knows he's never scored more than 13 goals in a season. He knows there's not a whole lot of money available out there when even Ilya Kovalchuk's contract demands can't be met.

So Gauthier could have negotiated with Moore if he chose to do so, but he didn't. Unless, of course, today's news that he wouldn't be signed is simply another part of the negotiation. But I doubt that.

So Moore is gone and I feel that's a mistake, though I can admit it's probably not a critical one.

Meanwhile, with Tuesday's signing of Sergei Kostitsyn by the Nashville Predators, it looks as though no compensatory draft picks will be changing hands between the Habs and Preds. This article on the Predators website spells out the conditions attached to that trade, and it appears as though draft picks would only be tacked on if any of the three players involved failed to sign an NHL contract with any NHL team.

So, because Dan Ellis, Boyd and Kostitsyn all signed NHL contracts, the conditional picks are washed away. Except there was never any doubt that Ellis and Boyd would sign somewhere. The only doubt here surrounded Kostitsyn, so I wonder why Gauthier agreed to the conditions seeing as Kostitsyn was also probably the player with the most upside in the trade.

And finally, Jaroslav Halak signed a four-year, $15 million deal with the Blues on Tuesday, thereby confirming he was out the Canadiens price range. The contract was actually a very good deal for the Blues, who purchased Halak's first two years of unrestricted free agency at a reasonable cap hit of $3.75 million annually.

But having that hit instead of whatever Price will sign for may have prevented Montreal from signing Tomas Plekanec, and who knows if Gauthier would have been able to get an NHL-ready prospect like Eller for Price on the trade market. So while I think the Blues got a bargain, I still believe Halak was too pricey for the Habs, and that was only confirmed on Tuesday.

But as I said right after the trade, this Eller kid had better be good.

26 comments:

I think you have correctly guessed the lineup. The only possible change is if Eller underwhelms at first, goes to the AHL and Desharnais gets a shot. But that's a remote possibility.

My problem with that lineup is that aside from Eller/Desharnais, the bottom-6 is entirely made of Kostopoulos-grade players. Nice guys, some sandpaper, lotsa smarts, no hands whatsoever. Unless Pyatt and Boyd are the next Martin St-Louis, I guess.

The Tanguay contract is a perfect example of what I wanted Gauthier to do this summer: find a vet with hands and a track record to challenge Pouliot or AKost for a top-6 spot when one of them falls asleep.

I understand Gauthier they'd try and develop a #3 C with a molikes the fact that Eller can play on the wing. No shit. I wishdicum of talent, for a change.

I still don't see how gettin Boyd in there is better than taking a flyer on SKost and signing Moore.

They traded down from #16 in 2006 to draft Fischer at #20 now they will get a #50 in 2011 who might play in 2015 and these bozos Gainey, Gauthier and Timmins still have their jobs?

Everything works together and huge part of your cap picture is the players you draft and develop and have on entry level contracts but Gainey and Gauthier have been terrible in drafting. Plus the pair traded away so many first 2 round picks. The two previous years they traded a #1 and a #2 for Tanguay, a #2 for Schneider and a #2 for Lang - 4 high picks for 3 players who only played months for the Habs then were gone. This year the same and gave up a #2 for Moore isn't resigned. Plus traded up in the 1st round by giving away this year's #2.

These two GMs also traded away #1 Higgins, #1 Komisarek, #2 Ribeiro, #1 Hainsey on a blunder by not knowing they had no more protection for him and lost him as he was claimed by Columbus, #3 Beauchemin left unprotected and was lost - all of them drafted by the previous regime.

Of their own drafting since 2003 the two GMs traded away #2 Latendresse, will lose #1 Fischer who they never signed and traded away #1 Ryan McDonagh(12th overall).

Trading away the team MVP for an American League player so you can continue with your 5 year obsession that Price was a great pick of yours at #5 in 2005 is sheer lunacy.

Apparently Moore's demands in Toronto were totally outrageous, which is why he was eventually traded to Buffalo. I can easily imagine him pricing himself out of Montreal - not that he will necessarily get the contract he wants elsewhere.

Boyd has the potential to be a great pick-up for the Habs and could make one of the bottom lines dangerous. He was a high scorer in junior and in his first year in the AHL, then Keenan buried him on the fourth line in Calgary in a grinder role. I hope the Habs give him someone to play with to see if he can blossom. He is supposed to be a hard worker, so he shouThebes liked by this coaching staff. The Habs had trouble scoring last year so the key to success this year will be if players like Boyd, Eller, Pouliot, and AK46 can bring it to the next level.

1. not a big fan of your defensive pairing. I don't like markov with subban it's too much of an offensive punch with no D-man to play DEFENCE. You need a offensive D-man with a stay at home D-man (my advice stick to writing about fake things you dream up while on absinthe). you most likely will see markov with either gill or Georges and subban with hamrlik and spacek with gill or georges. and O'b will be with markov's replacement when he's on the IR.

I'll agree that trading picks for Tanguay wasn't a great move, especially in light of the contract he carried at the time. That being said, Schneider singlehandedly and immediately resurrected the team's powerplay, and Lang was arguably the team's best centre in the 50 games he played before getting injured.

On top of that, you use Higgins, Komisarek, Ribeiro, Hainsey & Beauchemin as examples of players that got away for nothing. That list doesn't exactly make me pine for the good old days.

Chris Higgins was a waste of a roster spot by the time he left here. No revisionist history can change that.

Mike Komisarek (my favourite Hab for awhile) was overrated and apparently intent on leaving Montreal to be overpaid somewhere else. The Habs tried to indulge him, but thankfully he saved them from themselves by going elsewhere.

Mike Ribeiro was a prima donna that never would have come close to matching those numbers here. I used to hate watching him coast around the ice and dive every time someone looked at him sideways. I'll concede that they didn't get enough in return for him but I doubt Bob had people filling his inbox with juicy offers at the time.

Ron Hainsey, in the last four years, has played 319 games for Atlanta and Columbus (meaning he's only missed nine games). Over that time he has scored only 28 goals - not many for a supposedly "offensive" defenseman - and is a combined -48. On one occasion he was the worst player on his team with a -16. On another he was second-worst with a -19.

Francois Beauchemin is also a major-minus player who was second-to-last in +/- on his team two of the last three seasons. The only thing that likely saved him from going 3-for3 was that he missed 62 games to a major knee injury in the third one.

I'm sure glad you're not in charge of the team. Even with 20/20 hindsight you can't get it right!

anon #3 - maybe you should stick with what you know. Gill and georges were fantastic in the playoffs. They will not be broken up. Markov with spacek and subban with hammer is my guess for the other pairings but you never know...

anon #2 - I agree. I think boyd will suprise us this year. solid pick up

anon #1 - go away. you're tiresome

re the rest: I think one or two of the kids will surprise us this yr and bump one of pouliot or ak out of the top 6. The interesting thing about this line up is that it has a lot of flexability b/c quite a few of the young guys can play center or wing. Wouldn't be surprised to see Laps given another shot on the wing in the top 6 either. If he plays like he did in the playoffs he can be very effective.

anon #3 - maybe you should stick with what you know. Gill and georges were fantastic in the playoffs. They will not be broken up. Markov with spacek and subban with hammer is my guess for the other pairings but you never know...

anon #2 - I agree. I think boyd will suprise us this year. solid pick up

anon #1 - go away. you're tiresome

re the rest: I think one or two of the kids will surprise us this yr and bump one of pouliot or ak out of the top 6. The interesting thing about this line up is that it has a lot of flexability b/c quite a few of the young guys can play center or wing. Wouldn't be surprised to see Laps given another shot on the wing in the top 6 either. If he plays like he did in the playoffs he can be very effective.

@Olivier - If I understand what you're saying, I think you wanted something like a Tanguay contract, and not Tanguay himself. Someone like, say, Bill Guerin, who is still available and would probably be affordable? If that's what you're thinking, I couldn't agree more, especially considering he already has a relationship with Gomez and Gionta from US national teams (though we don't know what that relationship is like) and he loves the city here. But, if you're talking about Tanguay specifically, then no, couldn't disagree more.

Regarding my defensive pairings, here's my rationale. First, Gill and Gorges will not be broken up, they have the potential to be one of the top shutdown pairings in the league. They certainly were in the playoffs. I suppose the Hamrlik/Spacek pairing could be broken up, but I'm figuring there's no better defenceman on the team for erasing mistakes than Markov. While playing with Subban may stifle his own offence a little, Markov is not a Mike Green-esque rushing D. He knows how to pick his spots. He made Mike Komisarek look like a mistake-free stud, which we now know was not true. I think he can help hide some of the warts in Subban's defensive game early in his career and allow him the comfort of freelancing a little bit. And I came up with that without taking a single sip of absinthe. Only gin.

Finally, I agree Boyd could be a surprise. I also feel Max Pacioretty shouldn't be written off just because he wasn't ready for the show last year. He's still young. I listened to Guy Boucher go on and on about how Pacioretty learned a lot about playing the power forward role in the AHL, even though he was often injured. I think he's a wildcard this season. I hope the same is true of Desharnais, but at his size he's unfortunately the last thing this team needs right now.

Anon #! - The players MTL drafted still alot of them are still playing with other teams but none of them have even come close to matching the points they got in MTL.

Maybe management saw that and realized they had to let go or trade them while they're still worth something, we basically trade Higgins for Gomez and Pyatt, yes they traded their 1st round draft McDonagh but PG managed to gained back someone in return, Eller (13th overall) right behind McDonagh, and where is McDonagh? Still ain't ready to play in NHL.

So PG traded our 2011 2nd rounder but we still get compensation 2011 2nd rounder. So where's the loss? I say MTL has been drafting good for the last few years? Habs have managed to stay in the playoffs almost every season for the last few years, wanted to draft #! and stay dead last? Rather enjoy the post season every season.

The current line up looks pretty promising, Habs haven't "overpaid" anyone this off season, they paid exactly what a 3rd or 4th liner should be paid, unlike Metro for over 1m and Moore 1.1m. I little sad we couldn't include Moore but hey, I'm still happy with the current roster.

Arpon: it was painfully clear to me that Guerin has lost an important step. The playoff series against the habs showed him repeatedly unable to gain the zone with the puck. He can bring leadership (but we already have a ton of that, right?) but hockey-wise, I think he fell off a cliff and won't climb back. I think a guy like Tanguay, because he still is relatively young, is an interesting climb back candidate. I'd be perfectly comfortable with Ponikarovsky, actually, but we don't have the money anymore, so...

As for the defensive duos, I'd go with:

- Hamrlik/Spacek: They played the tough oppositions and started in the defensive zone all year long and still were tilting the ice the right way (the scoring chances numbers, which I'll publish somewhere in July, are especially flattering to Spacek). As long as they can keep it up, I think Martin will run them out there. When Markov is healthy, they make a beautiful second pairing.- Markov/Gorges: When healthy, Markov takes a massive amount of pressure, always matching up against the opposition's best. Gorges is a better defender than Subban and a perfect companion for Markov in high pressure situations. - Gill/Subban: Subban is somewhat reckless and having him with Gill means he gets less defensive zone draws and almost never plays the opposition's top lines. This is a better fit for him than having him play a full season against the opposition's best.

Gill and Gorges can be a shutdown pair *in the playoffs*, when the obstruction and hooking and whatnot isn't called. Then, Gill becomes an efficient (if penalty-prone) tough matchup defender. But in the regular season, when those infractions are called, he's a pylon at even-strength. Still pretty darn good on the PK tough.

Moore will be missed...but let's give Boyd a chance. I actually think he is on our 3rd line centre. He can score a dozen goals a season, put him with Eller and I can see even more goals. Remember he is only 23 and I hear he is a hard worker. I can see...

Moen/Lap/Pyatt...shut down energy lineEllers/Boyd/ ahl player and Darche rotating

Not sure which is #3 line and which is #4 line...but I hope both lines play enough to show what they can do.

At the end of the day, our Gm went "cheap" on filling the last few spots. Moore maybe was asking $1.5M for 2 yrs? Doesn't sound like much ...but it's more then what they have tied in to Boyd, who can do the same job. Time to open up some roster spots for youth, hope both Eller and one other AHL kid makes it...what about Pac on the line with Eller/Boyd....not bad!

Yeah right! It was Moore who "priced himsel out" but Gauthier/Gainey had the money to sign Darche a career minor leager and raise Pouliot a half a million for scoring one goal in his last 26 games and shutout in the playoffs Moore played so well in. Money that could have been used towards Moore. Got themselves in this cap position because they don't have a clue. And the insanity of trading a goalie on top of it the wrong one, BEFORE signing the other proves these 2 are about as stupid as any GTM in this league. I only hope someone puts i9n an offer for Price who now holds all the cards. And don't think Price and his family didn't see what Halak, Gainey and Gauthier said by their actions that Price had a better future in front of him - ie he will NOT be signing cheap. AND this bonehead move has tied the Habs hands to sign anyone but the bottom feeder players in the league. And worse Gauthier said he sees no problem signing Price before CAMP STARTS! That means all summer they won't even know how much money they can spend all summer as well on other players. If an offer comes in for Price - that is all - Molson will fire the entire regime from 2003. He already started firing Boivin which is what he did, Boivin who brought in this 2 time failure GM Gauthier who he used to go to school with.

Since Gainey/Gauthier are such great believers in following Habs longtime traditions "like NEVER re-signing a player of theirs during the season" I firmly understand this is the reason the Habs built up that great tradition of winning Stanley Cups! Jean Beliveau, Rocket Richard, Guy Lafleur, Doug Harvey, etc. all became the player they would become because of the hot June training camp of the team! And we all thought Richard moved furniture in the summer to sharpen his scoring eye.

Subban started in training camp in September, played the long season OF TODAY in Hamilton, got called up to the Habs and played a couple of games before the Olympic break that he did not get as he was sent back to Hamilton and kept on playing to the end of the long season. At which point he played in the AHL playoffs for a couple of rounds then was called up here almost too late as it was another stupid move of the 2 incompetants to have not called him up for the playoff stretch run, played for Habs until the last game and put in all kinds of ice time - then goes back to Hamilton and plays for them again until eliminated. There is absolutely no reason why he or Eller as well, should be in the same camp as high school and college players in June EXCEPT businessman Boivin made sure the media told all that Subban and Eller would be there for this summer camp which is open to the public and where they can sell those fans all kinds of stuff even when the hockey season has ended.

Subban said when asked why he was there? "I am here because they told me to come."

BTW - Eller was in Denmark taking his time after his long season of last year.

Good article again. I like the way the team is shaping up. Solid core and some intriguing new additions. I think Gauthier has demonstrated a deft hand. (for those of you who hate him, don't bother responding. It won't change my mind)

Sorry to see Moore go and you have to give youth a chance - so glad to see Boyd and Eller and a couple of kids from Hamilton get a shot. We can always gran a Moore type player at the trading deadline if we need him.

Does anyone think Desjardins will get some playing time this year? Maybe the club saved that 500k on a goalie contract signing Auld to role 3 goaltenders at some point? (Desjardins having around a 500k contract)

habs2411 day agobergeron as bad as he is defensively was the trigger man on the PP last season , now they'll rely on subban a rookie , price crumbles under pressure, but worse is the fact he's not even signed yet and halak was traded, great GM's make these kind of moves LOL, hopefully he signs elsewhere and Molson cleans house

"On top of that, you use Higgins, Komisarek, Ribeiro, Hainsey & Beauchemin as examples of players that got away for nothing. That list doesn't exactly make me pine for the good old days. Chris Higgins was a waste of a roster spot by the time he left here. No revisionist history can change that. Ron Hainsey, in the last four years, has played 319 games for Atlanta and Columbus (meaning he's only missed nine games). Over that time he has scored only 28 goals - not many for a supposedly "offensive" defenseman - and is a combined -48. On one occasion he was the worst player on his team with a -16. On another he was second-worst with a -19."--------

Then you trade him and get something back for him you see how quick he was claimed by a bottom team, I'm sure others were also in for him! You don't like a greenhorn not realize you will lose your FIRST ROUND PICK and years spent on him by trying to send him down when they had no more protection left. And as for Hainsey Atlanta a year ago thought he was worth paying $4 a year which he still makes today. I guess you like Brisebois or Traverse back there better?

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"Mike Komisarek (my favourite Hab for awhile) was overrated and apparently intent on leaving Montreal to be overpaid somewhere else. The Habs tried to indulge him, but thankfully he saved them from themselves by going elsewhere."-----------

Got hurt last year I'd rather have him than old Spacek. He will have a much better year in all those player's and Burke's second year there.

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"Mike Ribeiro was a prima donna that never would have come close to matching those numbers here. I used to hate watching him coast around the ice and dive every time someone looked at him sideways. I'll concede that they didn't get enough in return for him but I doubt Bob had people filling his inbox with juicy offers at the time."-----------

yes he wouldnt do that well here as other players dont while in gaineys clutches. he was the highest scorer the last 4 years on dallas including modano. lots of coaches moved up on players once out of here.

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"Francois Beauchemin is also a major-minus player who was second-to-last in +/- on his team two of the last three seasons. The only thing that likely saved him from going 3-for3 was that he missed 62 games to a major knee injury in the third one. I'm sure glad you're not in charge of the team. Even with 20/20 hindsight you can't get it right! "---------------

yes keep traverse and brisebois instead! sorry son but ive watched beauchemin play and for the money he signed and his ability i'd have signed him before signing spacek but i am sure there is no way he'd sign with the habs again as long as that dufus gainey was there!

"On top of that, you use Higgins, Komisarek, Ribeiro, Hainsey & Beauchemin as examples of players that got away for nothing. That list doesn't exactly make me pine for the good old days. Chris Higgins was a waste of a roster spot by the time he left here. No revisionist history can change that. Ron Hainsey, in the last four years, has played 319 games for Atlanta and Columbus (meaning he's only missed nine games). Over that time he has scored only 28 goals - not many for a supposedly "offensive" defenseman - and is a combined -48. On one occasion he was the worst player on his team with a -16. On another he was second-worst with a -19."--------

Then you trade him and get something back for him you see how quick he was claimed by a bottom team, I'm sure others were also in for him! You don't like a greenhorn not realize you will lose your FIRST ROUND PICK and years spent on him by trying to send him down when they had no more protection left. And as for Hainsey Atlanta a year ago thought he was worth paying $4 a year which he still makes today. I guess you like Brisebois or Traverse back there better?

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"Mike Komisarek (my favourite Hab for awhile) was overrated and apparently intent on leaving Montreal to be overpaid somewhere else. The Habs tried to indulge him, but thankfully he saved them from themselves by going elsewhere."-----------

Got hurt last year I'd rather have him than old Spacek. He will have a much better year in all those player's and Burke's second year there.

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"Mike Ribeiro was a prima donna that never would have come close to matching those numbers here. I used to hate watching him coast around the ice and dive every time someone looked at him sideways. I'll concede that they didn't get enough in return for him but I doubt Bob had people filling his inbox with juicy offers at the time."-----------

yes he wouldnt do that well here as other players dont while in gaineys clutches. he was the highest scorer the last 4 years on dallas including modano. lots of coaches moved up on players once out of here.

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"Francois Beauchemin is also a major-minus player who was second-to-last in +/- on his team two of the last three seasons. The only thing that likely saved him from going 3-for3 was that he missed 62 games to a major knee injury in the third one. I'm sure glad you're not in charge of the team. Even with 20/20 hindsight you can't get it right! "---------------

yes keep traverse and brisebois instead! sorry son but ive watched beauchemin play and for the money he signed and his ability i'd have signed him before signing spacek but i am sure there is no way he'd sign with the habs again as long as that dufus gainey was there!

Looks like we have a bubble team to root for next season. Accordingly, I'm picking an alternate in case the Habs flop. The Tampa Bay Lightening should be fun to watch so I'll be giving them a serious look. Maybe some day we'll have a team to be proud of and relate to. Here's hoping it happens in our lifetimes.

I have never been a big fan of having Spacek play on the right side. It makes it hard for him to pinch in the offensive zone and he has to turn his back to the play when taking a puck off the boards on his side. I am sure it is also affecting his instincts on the ice, having normally played left most of his career. I would rather see O'Byrne on the right with Spacek on the left, then Subban/Hamrlik, Gorges/Gill until Markov is healthy (I'll be surprised if Markov is playing in October after ACL surgery). I thought O'Bryne played some great hockey at times last year, but he seems to get in trouble with the coaching staff and gets benched.

THE FIRST OFFER SHEET IN THE LEAGUE IS IN - I HOPE FOR GAINEY AND GAUTHIER'S DISMISSAL ONE SOON WILL COME IN FOR CAREY PRICE.

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TSNThe San Jose Sharks have signed Blackhawks restricted free agent defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson to a free agent offer sheet, signing the defenceman to a four-year, $14 million dollar contract. Chicago has seven days to match the offer. If the team does not match it, they will receive San Jose's first and third round picks in the 2011 NHL entry draft.

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I'm a freelance sports reporter working in Montreal who has covered the Habs since 2000. I used to be obsessed with the Canadiens by choice, and for free. Now I'm paid to do the same thing. It's pretty sweet.